Thai police: 2-year-old killed in southern attack

HAT YAI, Thailand (AP) — Suspected insurgents in southern Thailand shot dead three people in a drive-by shooting on Sunday, including a 2-year-old girl, police said.

Two gunmen riding on a motorcycle carried out the attack in the Bannang Sata district of Yala province, said Police Col. Chartchai Chanasit. A 12-year-old boy was injured in the attack.

Last week, an insurgent and his 6-year-old son were killed in a shooting in the same district.

More than 5,000 people have been killed in Thailand's three Muslim-dominated southernmost provinces since an Islamic insurgency flared in 2004. The militants mainly target security forces but also kill others, including teachers, who are perceived to be representatives of the government in predominantly Buddhist Thailand.

The latest attack took place on a rural road as the victims were traveling in a pickup truck, Chartchai said.

Among the dead were a 54-year-old man, his 49-year-old wife and their 2-year-old granddaughter, who was shot in the head. The couple's 12-year-old grandson was sent to a hospital for a minor injury in his ear.